Seshan takes on Advani

When it was pointed out that Seshan was a rank outsider whose charisma might not work in the present surcharged political atmosphere in the State, a senior party leader in Delhi said that it did not matter much where the Congress candidate hailed from because even Advani did not belong to Gujarat and like Seshan he too was a rank outsider.

Reacting to the Congress choice for the Gandhinagar seat, official spokesman of the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP Bharat Pandya said it would make no difference to Advani8217;s margin of victory. 8220;In fact, had the Congress better intentions for Seshan, it would have fielded him from some safe seat instead of a BJP bastion like Gandhinagar,8221; Pandya said.

He said Seshan was merely being made a scapegoat and would be used as a media gimmick by the Congress. He doubted that Congress workers would work sincerely for Seshan as it was during his tenure as Chief Election Commissioner that the party faced the maximum problems. He said the Congress workers might not even respect the high command decision in this connection.

Pandya said fielding Seshan would help the Congress shift the blame for its impending defeat. 8220;It can then easily say that it was Seshan who had lost to Advani,8221; he said. Even Seshan, he said, was a compromise candidate because he was approached in the end after the party tried its luck with many others including film personalities.

Meanwhile, Girish Dani has filed papers for the Ahmedabad seat, Shankersinh Vaghela for Kapadvanj seat and Nishaben Chaudhary for Sabarkantha seat. Vitthal Radadia filed papers from Rajkot, Manubhai Parmar from Dhandhuka, Virji Thumar from Amreli, Dilipsinh Gohil from Bhavnagar and B K Gadhvi from Banaskantha. Jamnagar, Mehsana and Vadodara candidates were yet to be finalised till late tonight.